No Country for Old Men

Another triumph for the Coen Brothers (Raising Arizona, Fargo), this riveting adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's bestselling novel boasts a slew of outstanding performances in addition to bravura direction from the DGA award-winning siblings. Spanish star Javier Bardem dominates the screen with his gripping interpretation of Chigurh, a nightmarish, stone-faced hit man hired to retrieve wayward drug money stumbled upon by penniless hunter Llewelyn (Josh Brolin). Tommy Lee Jones gets top billing but actually has a supporting role as the fatalistic sheriff one step behind the indestructible Chigurh, who leaves a trail of blood and misery in his single-minded quest to find the interloper. The ambiguities in McCarthy's book are mirrored in the Coens' adaptation—especially the controversial ending—and the filmmakers brilliantly capture the gritty Southwestern milieu, while making the viewer squirm over the violence, which is graphic but also organic to the story. Nominated for eight Oscars—including Best Picture—this is highly recommended. [Note: DVD extras include a 25-minute “making-of” featurette, a featurette on “Working with the Coens” with filmmaker brothers Ethan and Joel Coen (8 min.), another on Jones' character called “Diary of a Country Sheriff” (7 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: an unimpressive extras package for this year's big Oscar winner.] (E. Hulse)[Blu-ray Review—Apr. 1, 2008—Miramax, 122 min., R, $34.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2007's No Country for Old Men features a sparkling 1080p transfer and an excellent uncompressed PCM 5.1 audio track. The bonus features on the disc are identical to the standard DVD release, which include a 25-minute “making-of” featurette, a featurette on “Working with the Coens” with filmmaker brothers Ethan and Joel Coen (8 min.), another on Jones' character called “Diary of a Country Sheriff” (7 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: Blu-ray plus Best Picture make a sweet combination.][Blu-ray Review—Apr. 14, 2009—Miramax, 2 discs, 122 min., R, $39.99—Making its second appearance on Blu-ray, 2007's No Country for Old Men (2-Disc Collector's Edition) still features an amazing transfer with 5.1 DTS-HD sound. Blu-ray extras include all of the previous special features, plus a “Spike Jonze Q&A” with filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, cinematographer Roger Deakins, and sound and production design crewmembers (60 min.), an in-store appearance with costars Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin (41 min.), a KCRW radio interview with the Coen brothers (29 min.), a “Lunch with David Poland” interview with Bardem and Brolin by film journalist Poland (27 min.), an “LA WGAW Q&A Panel” (24 min.), an episode of The Charlie Rose Show featuring the Coens, Brolin, and Bardem (23 min.), a “Creative Screenwriting Magazine” audio interview with the Coens (22 min.), “ABC Popcorn Video” with critic Peter Travers (15 min.), EW.com's “Just a Minute…with Javier Bardem” segment (13 min.), “Josh Brolin's Unauthorized Behind-the-Scenes” featurette (10 min.), a segment from “WNBC Reel Talk with Lyons and Bailes” with Brolin (10 min.), “NPR's All Things Considered” interview with producer Scott Rudin (8 min.), “NPR's Day to Day” with Bardem (7 min.), “NPR's Weekend Edition” with the Coen brothers (6 min.), “NPR's All Things Considered” with Brolin (5 min.), a “Channel 4 News” appearance with the Coens (4 min.), a Variety screening series Q&A (3 min.), and a bonus digital copy of the film. Bottom line: to be honest, if you own the first Blu-ray edition of this Best Picture winner, you probably don't need this version with oodles of bonus on-the-media-circuit interviews.]